Documentation

This is what happened while I was getting ready to go to the temple. How's that for ironic? I know. It could have been worse. I'm not complaining.

I love how he is smiling for me. What a trooper.

In the waiting area at the ER.

He was happy from start to finish. We learned that he is a happy drunk.

He had everyone cracking up during the procedure. The doctor told him that they were going to wrap him like a burrito. He thought that was hilarious, and kept giggling. But every once in a while, out of nowhere, he would shout, "Get me out of this burrito! I can't move my arms!" Then he kept asking the doctor, "What are you doing?" in a slow, drunkish voice. But the best part was the many times he said, "I feel good. Really good."

Back at home.

We Finally Named Our Dog

Yes, this is going to be a post about the process of naming our new puppy. And yes, I know most of my 5-ish readers don't really care. But it is my blog after all. And even though getting a puppy wasn't my idea, he is going to be my new baby. So just pretend naming him was as important as naming a child. I'll tell you one thing -- it was a lot more fun! There were several nights at the dinner table where we just kept throwing out ideas. Sometimes they would just get more and more ridiculous. But we always ended up laughing. I wish I would have recorded them all.

Nate with his thinking cap on.

I know I am missing a ton, but here are some of the names that we came up with...

Pip - Dare's favorite

Skeletor - still saving this one in case we get a chihuahua

Finlay

Fineas - this was a strong contender until the very end

Ferris

Sir Alex Ferguson

Calvin

Michael J. Fox

Seamus - this one almost made it

Atticus - this one too

Frazier

Callahan

Chit and Pucker - I had to think of names G could say!

Cooper

Morgan Freeman - this one was from an outside source

Chewy or Chewbacca

Nash

Rooney

Ollie

After we thought long and hard (2 weeks!) we decided. His name is...

drum roll please...

Wesley.

You can call him Wes for short. I will be calling him The Dread Pirate Roberts for short.

Sunflowers

My life is feeling a bit crazy right now.

No time to think. No time to blog.

But I have managed to keep my sunflowers alive. Even if it is just barely.

√

We brought home our new puppy today. He doesn't have a name yet. More to come...

You Never Get Used To It

It was a big day, it deserves a big post.

I heard Rhon telling Dare all about the morning routine today. It was so cute. She is an awesome big sister. She heard her say...

"We get dressed first."

"We eat breakfast before we brush our teeth."

"Come on. Let's go brush our hair."

And of course, Dare does everything Rhon does.

Thanks Rhon.

Dare woke up so fast! I usually have to poke and prod for 10-20 minutes. And usually she is mad at me. Not this morning. She popped out of bed (well, off of the floor in my room--her usual spot) and did everything she was supposed to.

Thanks Dare.

Triplets.

G didn't know what was going on, but he likes getting his picture taken.

Walking in. Rhon told me I didn't have to walk them in. I asked her if she didn't want me to, and she said, "You can, you just don't have to." I don't think she wanted me to. I might not have if I didn't have a first timer. I'm not in the market for embarrassing my kids.

Rhon's face is getting more and more worried (of embarrassment, not school).

B.A. was awesome today. She doesn't love school. She cried every time it came up during summer break. I don't want her to be unhappy, so I was really glad this morning when she got up and was happy and fun and excited. She sounds really excited for the upcoming year. She likes her teacher. She said she "has a good sense of humor". I am loving her attitude.

Thanks B.A.

Dare didn't cry. She didn't even look back. For anyone who knows how she is about Primary, this should be a bit surprising. It was for me too. I thought for sure she was just putting on a brave face, but no, she loved it.

I cried. Not too much though. I feel like my life is changing drastically and I don't even know what that means. It's weird. I'm going to miss her. I love having her around.

She didn't want me to take her picture here either. Oh well. I'm not that bad, am I?

Here is where I got back in the car. I slowly turned my head only to see Satan's Cavemen in my car. They were growling at me.

I have a friend who I love. Her name is Alice. She is the coolest friend I have because she is me! I am about 8 years behind her, but we are the same person. We have the exact family. Three girls, two boys, in that order, all in 6 1/2 years. That just doesn't happen very often. And our kids seem so similar too. I saw her today as I was walking out of the school. I told her I was scared to be alone with the boys. She told me to be very afraid. And there is a good chance I will want to kill them. She knows all about having Satan's Cavemen staring and growling at you!

I had the blues, so I had to listen to music. Mostly Motion City Soundtrack. They don't have any my-baby-girl-just-went-to-kindergarten songs so I settled for break-up songs. They worked.

Thanks Motion City Soundtrack.

Pick up.

She is second from the left.

Could she have grown up that much in 3 hours?

She loved it. All of it.

I told her if she was brave, and tried hard, I would take her out to lunch. She chose Famous Dave's.

Again, G not knowing the reason for the excitement, but loving the picture taking.

Don't you just want to squeeze Dare? I couldn't get enough of her today.

Then we went out for ice cream to celebrate such a special day.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in Rhon's face.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in Dare's face.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in B.A.'s face.

Oh man! I have to do all this again tomorrow!

I'm Going to Paint My Pilot Yellow

It is happening.

Tuesday.

I have spent enough at Old Navy that they should give me stock in their freaking company.

Same with Crayola.

Good luck girls. All 3 of you.

July

I am able to upload my photos again. I had to buy a new cord. I don't think I will have the time or inclination to post about everything. Here is a one-photo recap of our July.

July 4th. Yummy dinner. Grandma and Mark came over. Homemade ice cream with strawberries and cherries. Fireworks at our house.

Splash pad.

Pioneer Day. Met Uncle Tom and Aunt Theresa at a foam party. Had hot dogs at their house. Ice cream party with their ward. Fireworks show.

Best firework show I have ever seen.

Kids making "salad" in our back yard.

On the pot, reading a book.

White Tees

I like to read. I especially like to read books that tell stories that take place in the 1600s. It is fun for me to imagine what life might have been like back then. Most of the stories told of this time are about the rich people. Have you noticed that? It is interesting to me to learn that moms had a staff, or crew if you will, working for them. There was a cook, and a person to do the laundry. There was also a nanny-type person, or even someone to nurse your baby. The list of duties was endless, and there was a person for every job. The mom was busy running the household and visiting important people. I wonder if there is a book out there that tells a story about a mom like me? Probably not. It's not very interesting. But I would have liked to read a story like that 10 years ago. Maybe I wouldn't have been so surprised when I realized being a mom is hard work.

I like the idea of having a book. One that will tell me exactly how to talk to my 8 year old, and how to react when my baby throws a fit. I guess there are books out there. But I feel like I could study hard and still not know what I am doing. Like trying to read a book about riding a bike. All the studying in the world can't help you when you are sitting on the seat trying to pedal. I want to book to be titled: Amanda's Parenting Book, and it be just for me. It would know each of my kids individually, and tell me the perfect way to parent in each situation. If you think about it, most other jobs have guidelines and books to help. No one ever goes to work their first day with no clue what to do. And even if that did happen, the job would most likely stay the same. Not so with motherhood. My job is different everyday. There are always new milestones, new personality traits, new phases, new attitudes.

Don't even get me started on managing everything else.

As a mom, I feel like right next to keeping your kids alive, the most important thing is to raise your kids to be good people. I think the hard part is finding out what that means. I think my natural instinct is not always the right choice. For example, I have been trying desperately to help the girls get along. No fighting, is what I'm going for. If they don't fight, that must mean they are nice people and I am doing something right. Right? I realized tonight that that is impossible. Even as adults we don't always get along and we have had tons of practice. We still say things we shouldn't and misinterpret things that have been said to us. The arguments need to have limits, for sure, but I am not going to expect them to not have them anymore.

As Nate and I were talking about our kids tonight, and how we need to improve as parents, we realized the parallels between our relationship with our kids and our Heavenly Father's relationship with us. How many times does He repeat himself before we 'get' it? Lots. Man, there are so many things to figure out.

B.A. asked me the other day if having 5 kids was harder than having 1 or 2. I told her I didn't really know. I don't think when I say being a mom is hard, I am relating it to the number of kids I have. It really has nothing to do with that. The work load may be a bit more, but it is the same job with 1 kid or 5. But what I do know, is that even though sometimes it feels like I am drowning, I always recover. And the benefits are 5 times as great.

*****

Privileges: to earn, not take-away

B.A. - books

Rhon - tv

Dare - bike

Mads - DS

G - oh I don't know... being naked???

me: "G. If you hit again, you have to keep your clothes on all day." lol!

It's All In Love

No picture because I still haven't found my camera cord.

{me making a growling noise}

I have had daughters for 20 years combined. Plus several months that I don't want to count right now. I have had Mads for 3. In all those 20 years, I have never even gotten close to hearing these 2 sentences that came out of Mads' mouth in the last week. Here they are...

"Smell my finger!" -said after he scratched his bum. And...

"Mom, I'm going to flick my booger at you!"

Now, I don't want to get into gender stereotypes because there are people out there who would just call me a hypocrite, but seriously, what the freak?!!

I was shocked both times. Where does he pick this stuff up? He sounds scarily like my brother. Also, on the way home from the park today, he found a pile of dirt to kick. That isn't so strange, but without thinking, he kicked the dirt and rocks right at his sisters who were sitting on the ground. And he had a very devilish look on his face. Oh man, they are in for it.

G

Just for fun...

Word!

Since it is Sunday and all, Mads wanted to teach everyone how to say a prayer.

1. You always start the prayer with "Dare Enlee Faar".

2. Then a long series of "Nankufurrs".

3. These are followed by "Peasbessits".

4. Finally, always end with "Naamuh Jeez Krise, AMEN!"

Translation: "Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for going to church. Thank you for eating food. Thank you for eating pasta for lunch. Thank you..."

{breathing from G, and an EEEEEEE}

"... pasta for lunch. Cheese and pasta for lunch. And peanut butter. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I love his prayers. He usually goes into a big long thanks for all the places we go. Thank you for going to Target (Costco, Walmart, Smiths, etc.). We didn't get that this time. I was trying to be sneaky with the camera, but I think he knew it was there. Yeah. Because we didn't get any please bless its this time either.

*********

This reminds me of something. When Rhon was little, she used to say "Crisis" instead of Jesus Christ. I loved it. It was adorable.

In the last week of June...

... we went to the zoo.

Our membership expired the last day of June and the kids were begging to go once more before that happened. It was a really hot day. When the inevitable complaining started, I told them to remember this the next time they want to go, and I say no.

I'm writing this down to remind myself.

We enjoyed the Madagascar exhibit. They had cockroaches the size of watermelons! Sick. I will probably have nightmares for weeks.

Oh. Another thing. Mads doesn't like cotton candy. What the freak!?! He wouldn't even try it. I don't know what his problem was. And I, being the you-have-to-try-everything kind of mom that I am, forced him. I waited until he held his mouth open just right, and then I crammed it in. He spit it out! I was shocked and appalled. He kept saying on the way home, "I don't like cotton candy." It hurts my heart. I will try again and again.

I love they way Rhon is holding G's hand in this picture.

... we had some warm days.

The kids in our pathetic little pool.

... our astilbe plant bloomed.

This is my favorite plant in all of our yard.

... it was time to harvest the peas!

Letting the kids pick and eat veggies, is the best part of having a garden. It almost makes it worth all the work. Almost.

G is a pro pea eater. He picks them off, cracks them open, and eats all the peas inside.

So Cool

Novelty Neckties

This is how Dad takes the boys to bed.

G will start crawling on his shoulder before family prayer is even over.

They love it.

Two stories about Nate

The other day Nate was sitting on the couch watching a soccer game between Spain and South Africa. I was sitting with B.A. on the other couch. She asked Nate what ESP meant. Without hesitation, and hardly taking a breath, he went into a full explanation of extrasensory perception. He described what it was, how it worked, and how people debate its reality. This sermon lasted a good 5-10 minutes. When he was done, she said, "Okay. But what team is ESP?" (On the little scoreboard on the soccer match they had Esp, short for Espana).

I thought this was hilarious. This is something I love about the fatherly father in Nate. He will never hesitate to answer the kids' questions fully and completely. He loves the chance to teach them something.

+++++

A friend of Rhon's parents are divorced so I was talking about it with the girls a few days ago. They were thinking and wondering where they would live if Nate and I got divorced. Some of the things that were said...

Daddy is so funny. He makes us laugh all the time.

Daddy makes such good food.

Dad is so fun.

Daddy makes the best salsa. (This was said by B.A.)

... and I quote, "But Mom. You are a good Mom" said in a conciliatory way.

I am getting worried over here. Nate has all kinds of things going for him, but all I have is being a "good mom".

It's okay. I'm glad they like him. I'm glad he is a good dad.

Rhubarb

Mt. Rainier

brought to you by Southwest Airlines : )

Nate and I spent a whole 3 days alone together over the weekend.  It was perfect.  Nate is as funny as ever.  In Seattle, we did all the touristy things.  And we had amazing food.  If I ever go to Seattle again, I will for sure go to Piroshky Piroshky, and the Doughnut Company again.  And again.  And again.  There was also a boat ride and kayaking.  My mom was amazing and took care of all 5 of my kids!  That couldn't have gone better.  And because of my super awesome BIL, Justin, we were able to save a ton of money.  Thanks!